I tried one forum once and posted a video of my brand new birds. I was immediately bombarded by negative comments about their clipped wings. The bars in the cage ect. Where I live they clip them in the store and you really have no choice. If it would have been some random posters it might not have bothered me but it was four of the people overseeing the site.

I never wrote back on that forum the vibe was too negative.

I tried a second forum, a bird forum. For a while I was amazed at the knowledge they had about birds. I have a multi pet household and 30 years experience (with vet bills) with dogs and cats. When it came to any other animal then birds the information was so ridiculous that it was sad.

I really think a forum needs a mix of people. I read the thread on here about outdoor or indoor cats. I loved the approach the way people wrote their answers. To me if a forum just perpetuates myths and does not help people come closer to understanding anything then it's useless.

I don't want to come on to a site to be humored. If I show you a picture of my Sheppard or Labrador and tell you what a great pure bred wolf he is and how he walks off leash. I expect someone to challenge me. This for the simple reason that so many animals suffer each year from people perpetuating myths about them. It saddens me to see so many people humor someone and say yes "what a lovely wolf you have".

This type of reaction hurts society. I inadvertently bought a wolf mix years back. He killed a rat with ease at six months of age. I could not believe a neighbor who told me he just killed that rat. We were talking along the edge of a lake. Later he killed the neighbors cat and didn't have a scratch on him.
At the end he got loose and tried to single handily take down a farmer's cow. He had many great qualities and in the end we signed his papers back over to the breeder who's black husky line had perished. My last memory of him was the terrible howling he was doing as we drove the 300 meter driveway to leave. It has haunted me ever since. Just a question of money. We took him in no knowing, not ready for what came. It saddens me to think of how often this plays over and over.

Many years of experience with animals should have some value. Trial and error shows us the way. I suffered a stroke some years back and had blind spots on my vision. I am not always able to express myself to the same degree. It took years to get back to where I am today. It's pretty easy to say something that will offend someone. No two people have the same experience. Even the same person at different times in their life can change opinions drastically. I fed my cats what they wanted. Bought different brands and just gave them whatever they liked. Now they may be paying the price. One has mega collin and the other was just hospitalized for such a bad tummy ache that she couldn't walk. She is home now and they said she has a bit of cholesterol. What I could tell myself of twelve years ago might have saved my cats these problems, who knows.

It's so easy on a forum to get into a debate that is sterile. Look at the question about indoor or outdoor cats. One person says indoor live longer and another replies (on the old forum) my uncle had 20 outdoor cats, they lived till 16 they never had medical problems. In my country there is no feral cats. We don't have mange here or any cat diseases because all the feral cats are caught and homed... In seconds a research on the internet tells me they have over 2 million feral cats. The cats are eating and bringing certain species to extinction...Nobody calls them on it. I really want to be a part of something that helps society and myself evolve not just a bunch of false argumentation built on a house of cards.

Well my introduction is long and without a doubt lacks structure. Like I said I had a stroke and this is as good as it is going to get for me after the long road back uphill.

Would love to see some pics of your critters. What kind of birds do you have? When I was a kid, my mom had an amazing African Grey parrot that was learning to talk, and we also had a pair of Peach-faced Love Birds. Wish I could have birds again, but right now I have 5 cats so it won't be anytime soon.

Welcome to the board! Sorry for the late reply, weekends and summer in general it gets slower on the board....

As the others have said, we love pics! I like your attitude, it's very important to always have an open mind and not get easily offended. You're right, we don't always all agree on any one thing. Take from it what works for you and let the rest go.

Yes, weekends are a bad time for new posts, especially in the summer. Everyone comes back on Monday and catches up, so a belated WELCOME!
I hope your experience on pets.ca is much better than the one you had on the other forums.

Your post was well written and you'll find our members to be very smart and very generous with advice.

This forum, like many others does have hot threads...but generally they work out OK.

Hope you enjoy your stay and would love to see some pix!

I put up some pix I will take more soon. Thank you

Quote:

Originally Posted by sugarcatmom

Adding my welcome to the pile!

Would love to see some pics of your critters. What kind of birds do you have? When I was a kid, my mom had an amazing African Grey parrot that was learning to talk, and we also had a pair of Peach-faced Love Birds. Wish I could have birds again, but right now I have 5 cats so it won't be anytime soon.

I have 6 budgies and my project these days is my bird room. I would love to have an African Grey or some Conures. I have some pictures up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dog Dancer

Welcome to the board! Sorry for the late reply, weekends and summer in general it gets slower on the board....

As the others have said, we love pics! I like your attitude, it's very important to always have an open mind and not get easily offended. You're right, we don't always all agree on any one thing. Take from it what works for you and let the rest go.

So true. I can tell you that having had a stroke it is easy to be misunderstood. One phrase and people can camp you in a role you had no intention to be in. The debate about indoor outdoor cats is one such debate. Having treated my cats for mange when they first came in my life over 11 years ago I never let them out. I did take them out on a leash and know many people who do. Thinking out loud can be dangerous. Someone tells you there is a cat reaking havoc in his yard and you say "why do people let them out". Suddenly you are perceived as being on one side of a polarized argument when in reality you haven't given it much thought. I know of at least one person who's cat was poisoned and ran into a cat that was dead in my drive way last year. Suddenly one comment has other people calling me cruel for keeping them indoors. That is why I mentioned that I liked the way it was treated (the subject) on this forum. When people perceive malicious intent they react by trying to sting back when they really have no idea of the person behind some benign comment. People project on to others intent were there was none.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Yes, weekends are a bad time for new posts, especially in the summer. Everyone comes back on Monday and catches up, so a belated WELCOME!
I hope your experience on pets.ca is much better than the one you had on the other forums.

I really love the fact that there are articles that kind of guide or help by stating the facts. I find this forum more professional because of the articles on pets.ca.